1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the production of an antifouling resin and an antifouling coating composition, and more particularly to a method for the production of an antifouling resin. Resins of the present invention are generally suitable for use as binders for antifouling coating materials that are capable of forming a coating film to be used particularly on vessels and marine structures for the prevention of biotic pollution.
2. Description of Related Art
As the binder for an antifouling coating material, resins containing a carboxylate of tin have been widely used heretofore. On account of the toxicity, a switch from this resin to other resin systems has been being strongly urged. In recent years, studies are chiefly directed to resins which contain carboxylates of copper and zinc.
No measure has yet been perfected for controlling the speed of wear of coating films obtained by these resins. Though these resins indeed manifest a fair ability to prevent fouling, they have problems with incurring difficulty in retaining their effects. Further, in the case of a resin which has a metal carboxylate structure in the molecular unit, the method which obtains the resin by simply polymerizing a monomer possessing the metal carboxylate structure entails the problem of incurring difficulty in synthesizing the resin because the polymerization entails the phenomenon of gelation.